Los Angeles Conservancy Action Alert
 
 

Neighborhoods at Risk: Please Write to the City Council Today

Please Urge L.A. City Council to Fund Preservation Positions

 Without funding for two existing staff positions in L.A.'s Department of City Planning, the teardown trend could continue to sweep L.A.'s older and historic neighborhoods. Photo by Adrian Scott Fine/L.A. Conservancy.

The Los Angeles Department of City Planning is asking for $171,296 in next year’s budget to fund two existing staff positions devoted to conserving older and historic neighborhoods.

This amount is relatively miniscule – only .0019558% of the city’s overall proposed budget of over $8 billion. Yet because these staff members will work to protect entire neighborhoods, this small investment can have a tremendous impact for many years to come.

The staff positions focus on historic districts (known in the City of Los Angeles as Historic Preservation Overlay Zones, or HPOZs), and are currently helping six historic neighborhoods in which the City Council adopted an Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) last year.

Without this minimal amount of funding and these positions restored, the work on these neighborhoods will be halted in July and the City will not meet its obligation under the ICO.

This funding does not appear in the mayor’s currently proposed budget. If these staff positions are eliminated, Angelenos will continue to see their neighborhoods’ character chip away, one teardown at a time. And your neighborhood could be next!

Eventually we may reach a tipping point. As neighborhoods continue to experience inappropriate alterations and overdevelopment pressures, some may lose their character and jeopardize their eligibility for HPOZ status.

At this time we need to keep pressure on City leaders to pay attention to this issue amid the many other competing priorities in the proposed budget. We need your help in sending the message to the City Council and its Budget and Finance Committee that protecting our older and historic neighborhoods is of vital importance to Angelenos.

How You Can Help

Email the City Council Budget and Finance Committee

Photo by Adrian Scott Fine/L.A. Conservancy.

If you live in the City of Los Angeles, please write to your own City Councilmember and all members of the Council’s Budget and Finance Committee by Thursday, April 28. Let them know how important your neighborhood’s character is to your quality of life, and that:

  • The amount requested is a paltry .0019558% of the overall proposed city budget, yet will bring a significant return on a relatively minor investment. 
  • With funding restored, older and historic neighborhoods can have the necessary staff to help residents maintain their neighborhood’s distinct community character.
  • The benefits of preserving neighborhood character are undeniable (see the Issue Background tab on this issue’s web page for details).

City Council Budget and Finance Committee:

Paul Krekorian, councilmember.krekorian@lacity.org - Council District 2 (Committee Chair)
Mitch Englander, councilmember.englander@lacity.org - Council District 12
Paul Koretz, paul.koretz@lacity.org - Council District 5
Bob Blumenfield, councilmember.blumenfield@lacity.org - Council District 3
Mike Bonin, councilmember.bonin@lacity.org - Council District 11

If you don’t know which councilmember represents your district, you can find out on the City Council page of the City website.

When emailing councilmembers about this issue, please BCC afine@laconservancy.org so we can track support.

Attend the April 28 Hearing

Attend the April 28 hearing of the City Council Budget and Finance Committee (City Hall, 200 N. Spring Street, 3rd Floor).

The Committee will review the Department of City Planning's budget and take public comments; we believe starting at 1:00 p.m. Please speak out in support of HPOZ funding and make your voice and neighborhood heard!

Thank you for your help!

Learn more about the City’s budget and how this might affect your neighborhood »